Kottayam: Kerala's Kottayam district is celebrating its 30th anniversary today of being declared the first 100% literate town in India.

On June 25, 1989, Kottayam earned the name, city of letters, by NP Sahi, the then Union minister of state for education through a 100-day, 100% literacy campaign that opened the world of letters to 2,008 people. Hundreds of volunteers reached out to the illiterates and taught them how to read and write.